Bawumia Fumbles On Corporate Tax Cuts

Things seem not to go down well with the New Patriotic Party government, 100 days in office, as it continues to struggle to fulfill some of the promises it loudly made to Ghanaians, especially Corporate Ghana.

While the party manifesto captures a drastic reduction in corporate tax rate and the abolishing of other indirect taxes as one of the key promises that would see the light of day immediately after the inception of the Akufo-Addo-led government, nothing has been done to reduce corporate tax in the system by the government.

Addressing a town hall meeting in Accra yesterday to talk about the achievements of the NPP government within the last 100 days, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, could not give tangible reasons why up to date a reduction in corporate tax had not taken effect.

Struggling to save his face, he noted that the government cannot do everything within a year or 100 days and hoped that Corporate Ghana would bear with them.

Dr. Bawumia said discussions were still ongoing with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to see how best some of the taxes could be reduced to assist industries in the country.

Although the NPP Manifesto promises to reduce corporate income tax rate from the current 25 percent to 20 percent and also abolish a host of other indirect taxes, including the removing of import duties on raw materials and machinery for production within the context of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) Protocol and abolish the Special Import Levy, the 17.5% VAT on imported medicines not produced in the country, the 17.5% VAT on Financial Services, the 5% VAT on Real Estate sales, the 17.5% VAT on domestic airline tickets and son during their time in opposition, the reality of governance and a stable and buoyant economy it inherited this year from the NDC-led government has left them with barely little or nothing to do in order to keep their so-called flimsy promises.

It is worth noting also that well meaning Ghanaians and reputable civil society organizations in the country, including the CDD-Ghana, have rated the Akufo-Addo-led government in 100 days as nothing good to write home about.

In a statement issued in Accra, the policy think-tank group said it feels badly disappointed by President Akufo-Addo’s decision to appoint 110 ministers.

According to the group, it flies in the face of the president’s own declared commitment to protect the public purse, as well as its longstanding good governance advocates’ campaign for meaningful reduction in the size of government and resultant government spending.

“We believe that the appointments of so many politicians to manage the state bureaucracy will further deepen its politicization and undermine its authority,” it noted.